The dreaded Parthenium Weed -spread by human activities such as road building -has gained a foothold in Nairobi National Park, especially in the Athi Basin area, where a pylon line is currently being constructed….floodwater also spreads the seeds, so we can expect mega-infestation after the current Rains…

Each single plant is said to be able to produce 25,ooo seeds -if you want to see the end result, look on the verges of the new by-pass from JKIA heading to the Thika Highway: what a mess….

The experts tell us that this is a plant (it is of the Feverfew family) which poisons its neighbours, including grass & is a major threat to African grassland ecosystems…in Ethiopia (where it first arrived in Famine Relief supplies) it has compromised thousands of acres of rangeland.

Parthenium causes allergic reactions in people & animals, so pull it up with gloves or a handkerchief…..if you see this plant: DESTROY IT!!

Parthenium is not to be confused with one of our commonest & most widely spread wild flower species Heliotropium (see above)

“And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these……..”

So says the Good Book & this year’s rains in Nairobi National Park has brought out the wild flowers in all their glorious profusion:

Wild harebells:Cyphia glandulifera…..

Pentanesia ouranogune

Ipomoea jaegeri

Hypoxis obtusa

The glorious, scented Gladiolus candidus….

The ubiquitous Heliotropum, one of the commonest wildflower geni in Kenya:

The word “heliotropium” is the Latin name for an ancient plant which had
the unique habit of turning to face the sun at all times. The plant’s name is
derived from two Greek words: helio, meaning “sun,” and tropos, meaning “turn.”

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